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Chapter One: Of pigeons, visions, and wendigos

Day 1: Sunday (can't get any more vague than that. . .) 3:32 pm

Oh for the love of a camera. . .

Sam Winchester couldn't help the laughter explode at the sight of his brother running around in circles like a maniac in the middle of the park. He warned him that getting the roasted peanuts was going to be a bad idea. But did Dean ever listen? Nooo.

And apparently neither did the pigeons.

Dean swung his arms blindly around as the eager birds surrounded him for a sample of the nutty goodness he was hanging onto, with a grip so intense you would have thought it was the very thing keeping him alive. About three of them had precariously perched on his jacket and one was trying to balance itself atop his head, but was failing miserably as its host was quite jumpy and wouldn't quit trying to knock it off.

At last, as if by magic (or perhaps it was a sad realization) Dean released his hold on the precious bag, letting the beloved nuts fall unceremoniously to the ground before they were besieged by the greedy birds and carried off to their various nests for a meal where he was sure the conversation would be revolving around a hunter who lost a fight to a couple poultry.

Sam watched as his brother stomped indignantly toward him, taking an occasional peek over his shoulder as if worried he might still be followed by the flying monsters from hell. Sticking out his hand in a fist, Sam did his best imitation of an on spot reporter. "We're here with Dean Winchester. A renowned hunter and skilled fighter. Dean, how does it feel to have lost such an important battle to just a few hungry birds?"

Dean smacked his brother on the back of the head with irritation. "Shut up Geek. Besides, there were more than a few. They were all over me." he shuddered back at the thought of all those black eyed, big beaked creatures scrambling over him.

"Aw, cheer up bro." Sam continued teasingly, followed by a pointed wink. "I'm sure they were all female birds."

"Ha, freakin' ha." Dean commented dryly. "At least they know a good catch when they see one."

"Sorry to disappoint. But I'm pretty sure they only wanted the peanuts."

"Gold digging bitches."

"Well, what did I tell you about spoiling the gals on the first date?" Sam clicked his tongue in mock disapproval. "You never get anywhere in the relationship."

Dean followed in suit with an over exaggerated sigh. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

Both brothers doubled up laughing before finally giving up on their charade and sitting down purposely on an empty bench near the lake, far enough away from the rest of the populated park so they would have some privacy. "Alright Sammy, you got me out here. Now explain why."

Dean wasn't a man prone to trust. Too many times in his past had he been hurt by the ones closest to him, and believing in people just wasn't in his nature; even if it was his little brother.

Sam pulled a crumpled piece of newspaper out of his pocket and handed it to Dean. "Read it."

Dean stared at Sam as if he had just gone insane. "You dragged me out here so I could read something!"

"Fine." Sam huffed and grabbed the paper back, grumbling under his breath. "Like you couldn't have used the fresh air anyway."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Sam." Dean's tone was low and threatening.

"Nothing Dean! Now would you just pay attention." Without waiting for a response, Sam dived into his explanation as if he had been preparing for it for a week. "We're here," he pointed meaningfully at the bench they were sitting on. "Because a woman went missing, and this was the last place anybody said they saw her."

"And?" There was no way in hell Sam was suggesting they start looking into lost friggin' not found cases. He was pretty sure that last he checked, they only did supernatural gigs. Just to be sure, he checked one last time. Mmhm. Only supernatural.

"And she turned up yesterday."

Dean scratched his chin and twitched his eyebrows. "You know. I think you're right Sam. This is definitely something we need to look into. A woman is missing and then turns up again? That is strange. Maybe we should even call Ash and see if he can detect some sort of pattern with this so we can track down the sonuvabitch who is behind the atrocity."

Sam glared angrily at his brother's cruel sarcasm but continued anyway. "She's dead Dean. From the reports, it looks like she was tortured until the pervert decided it was time to end the fun and skewered her with a freaky hooked knife."

Dean cringed slightly as the visualization entered his mind, and it was sickening. "I still don't see what this has to do with us."

Sam once again offered the crumpled paper to his brother. "Recognize her?"

Dean stared intently at the nauseating picture and found it hard to place her face with any of his memories. He handed it back. "'Fraid it's not ringing any bells here."

Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Dean, she's a hunter. Danielle, remember?"

Dean's eyes then lit up in recognition. "Oh yeah, Danielle. Good times." he smiled to himself at old memories of Danielle and himself competing over pranks the same way he and his brother had done on many an occasion- Danielle always won- before a dark and withering gaze crossed his features. "She's gone?"

"Yeah." Sam confirmed quietly.

"So what are we supposed to be looking into here?"

"There were ten burn marks lining across her temple and jawline."

"Uh-huh. So? You said 'torture' right? It makes sense that the creep might. . . burn her." Dean stumbled over his words as the picture flashed back in his mind and he imagined the pain that woman went through. He absently rubbed his left shoulder where there was still a small scar from his run in with Papa Bender and a hot poker. "It happens all the time."

"Yeah." Sam agreed, but Dean could see that more was coming. "But do they normally do it with their fingers?"

"Huh?" Dean wrinkled his nose in confusion and grabbed back the paper to take a closer look. Sure enough, ten finger-sized burn marks were framing her face just under her hairline. "Fingerprints?"

"Just pieces. They didn't find a whole print."

"Where did they find her?"

"An empty warehouse."

"Huh." Dean repeated as he ran his hand through his hair in a thoughtful gesture. "So what do you think we're up against here?"

"Honestly Dean, I-" Sam's voice broke off as his gaze was pulled forward and he stared momentarily at the lake sitting peacefully in front of them, though it wasn't the body of water he was looking at, before blinking and shaking his head. "Uh. . . I really don't know." Again he raised his gaze as if searching for something he had lost.

"Sam?" Dean hated it when his brother was quiet. Because if he wasn't bitching about something or sleeping, it meant that something was bothering him. "Sam what's wrong?"

Sam made one last sweep before glancing back at his concerned brother. "Nothing. Sorry. I just. . ."

Another thing Dean hated was when he left his sentences hanging without an explanation. "Just what?" he prodded.

"I just thought I saw something. . ." Sam rubbed his forehead with his right hand and took a deep breath, walking over to stand next to the lake, trying to calm his already frayed nerves. Dean and him had been on cases practically non stop for a month now and it didn't take a genius to see the toll it was taking out of them. But it wasn't just that. It would never be just that. Ever since Dad. . .

No. He wouldn't think about that. He had to stay in the here and now. He had to concentrate on the case. Danielle deserved that much. She had been a great ally, a friend. . .

Why did his head hurt so damn much? Sam lifted a hand up to try and release the pressure building, but to no avail as flashes of white danced above him. Wait. . . stars? Planets, a rocket and. . . music. God, the sound was so comforting, like an angel's voice echoing in his head. Why was he laying down?

He tried to speak but all that came out was garbled gibberish and a soft whimper.

"Sh, Sammy, it's ok. You can sleep now."

Sleep? He could only stare ahead of himself, glancing a white ceiling and the face of somebody he knew he should be happy to see. Once again he tried to communicate with the woman standing above him but realized it would do no good as she smiled down at him.

"Sammy calm down." she said soothingly while lowering her hand to stroke his hair. "Mommy's here. You're safe."

And he believed her. His eyelids were so heavy that he couldn't help it. Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt. . .

"Samuel."

Sam ripped his eyes opened as he felt a new presence in the room, standing above him. Who was this person and why was he here? He shouldn't be here. That much Sam knew.

"Samuel." the stranger repeated again, the words sending small shivers down his back.

"Sam!"

Sam recognized that voice. Mom?

"Sam!"

The air seemed to be leaving the room and he reached his hand up to grab at his constricting throat. Why couldn't he breathe? Smoke surrounded him and he could see the flames of the fire licking across the ceiling he had recently been fixated with. His lungs gasped painfully with the need for oxygen, protesting as he made wild gasps for the precious air and only received a deep gulp of water instead.

'Wait. . .' his mind was slowly processing this new information. 'Water?'

"Sammy!"

'Was that Dean? What's he doing here?' Sam's mind was sluggishly moving on to a conclusion as it hit him. Water!

3:40pm

A lone, shadowy figure leaned heavily against a single oak, staring at the reflection-less waters of the lake, and ran his fingers through his hair with frustration, ignoring the feeling of crusted blood mingling with his calloused hands.

A hunt.

It should have been so simple.

But instead. . .

Why did he get the feeling that he was being watched?

His thoughts were caught as he heard a loud 'splash' and saw the large ripples on the lake churning wildly, indicating that some idiot fell into the water.

'Good' he thought morbidly. Maybe if he was lucky, the fool would drown, choking on the bitter fluid as it filled up in his lungs, drowning him slowly. But instead a panicked voice called out a name. A familiar name- and dove in after the body. Damn. Well, if this wasn't going to be any fun, he would have to go make his own. . .

Shaking his head, the man pushed off the mossy tree trunk and walked off toward the not too far off woods, letting the bright afternoon sun warm his body. Not that he cared. He had a job to do. And he would be damned if he didn't finish it.

And so he crossed over to the vacant forest area and, had anybody been looking, they would have noticed something odd about the young man. He was a tall, reasonably good looking dark brunet, and besides the thin layer of blood spread across his face, could pass for a perfectly normal college student perhaps. . . But if you paid special attention to the small things, the little, almost unimportant things, you might have seen that wherever he went, wherever he tread to, wherever his steps fell, there was no shadow to follow. . .

3:40pm

Dean had been staring down at the picture Sam had given him of Danielle when he heard the all too familiar, painful moan coming from somewhere in front of him, allowing him to jerk his head up in time to see his brother collapse into the watery depths of the lake.

"Sammy!"

Without a second thought to go on, Dean jumped up from the bench and dove into the surprisingly icy cold water, following his brother's sinking form under the surface. His arms were outstretched to help find Sam as his strong legs propelled him downwards at a rapid rate.

'Oh god Sam. Where are you?'

Unable to see anything under the murky waters, Dean relied on touch alone to try and locate his probably drowning brother. Panic gripped him, ignoring his pitiful attempts to push it away and filled his mind with thoughts of failure. Of not reaching his brother in time.

'No!'

Dean cried out in his mind as he continued the search, praying to anybody that would listen, to help him find Sam. He had only taken his eyes off of him for minute. A mere second that could have just cost his brother his life. Cursing himself for being so careless, for not paying close attention, Dean squeezed his eyes shut against the strangely salty-ish wasters of the lake before opening them one final time.

It was then that he could see it. Something that made him practically choke on the freezing cold water that oppressed him. Sam's unmoving form beginning to float up toward the surface, his face downcast and set in a painful grimace.

'Ohgodohgodohgodohgod.'

Without needing another opening, Dean gave two powerful strokes to reach his frighteningly still brother, and grab him around the waist. As soon as he knew that his grip would hold, he kicked his legs rapidly, hoping that he would make it to the surface in time; before their oxygen would give out.

For all he knew, Sam's was already gone.

No. He wouldn't think like that. Sam was going to be okay. He got to him in time. He saved him.

With one final push of resolve, Dean burst through the opposing water, reaching the surface just as his air gave out. . .

3:43pm

Sam ripped open his eyes just as his head emerged above the surface of the suspiciously greenish waters of the lake, with a strong arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him back over to the shoreline.

"Sam, stop struggling dammit. You're heavy enough without you trying to add the extra resistance." Dean chided as he fought to stay above water with Sam in tow, though on the inside he was doing flips of excitement that Sam was awake. After several prolonged seconds of paddling, the feeling of solid ground beneath him was a welcome relief as he placed his brother on the acorn filled park grass, breathing heavily from the exertion.

Sam lay stunned on the ground, trying to catch his watered down breath and push his dripping bangs away from his eyes before looking over to Dean. "W- what happened? Are you okay?"

Dean couldn't help but laugh at the backwardness of the question. "Am I okay? Dude, you were the one that said he was seeing things before taking a swan dive into the lake."

"Oh." was the only thing that made sense in Sam's mind as he tried to think back. He didn't remember falling in the water or anything between talking to Dean and nearly drowning in the now painfully peaceful lake.

"Are you boys okay?"

Both brothers spun around at the voice to see an older man and a teenager boy running towards them with a frisbee in hand and a dog close behind.

Dean was the first to react to the unexpected concern thrown their way. "Uh, yeah. Jr. here just forgot we had a perfectly good shower back at the motel." he ignored the death glare sent his way by 'jr.' and continued. "So thanks, but we're cool."

The older man looked skeptical at the explanation but wasn't about to push if the two strangers didn't want help. His son however was not so willing to take it and leave. "Dude, that was so awesome!" he pointed at Sam. "You were totally zoning out there, man. And then you." he shifted his finger over to Dean. "You just like jumped in right after him!" he then retracted his finger but replaced it with both arms waving animatedly around. "You two were under there for like a super long time!"

Before anyone could summon up a reply, the boy stuck his hand out toward the brothers. "I'm Colin. And this is Todd." His thumb jutted out to point at the man next to him before a loud bark sounded behind him and he laughed as he leaned down to give his yellow lab a good rub down. "Oh, and this is Wendigo."

Sam chuckled, noting the jet black hair and pierced ears of the boy standing in front of him. "Wendigo huh?"

"Yeah." Colin laughed along. "I read that the wendigo was like some sort of a creature that ate people, so I thought it would be cool to name my dog after something so ferocious. Fat lot of good that did since she's just a big baby."

"Huh." Dean stood and took Colin's hand. "I'm Dean, and this Sam." he leaned conspiratorially in the younger's direction. "But everybody calls him Geek, so don't hold back if it feels right."

"Dean." Sam's voice lowered to a threatening growl but Dean purposely ignored it in favor of the now laughing Colin. Despite the kid's rebel/ gothic look, he could tell from the impossibly blue eyes that he was bright, intelligent, and most probably lonely by the way he seemed so eager to make friends with the two weirdos who thought it would be fun to take a swim in the bacteria infested lake.

"So, where did you read about wendigos? Not exactly the most common book you'll find on the shelf."

Colin nodded his head in agreement. "That's for sure. But I didn't have to look hard. You see, my sis-"

"Colin!"

Todd's voice was sharp and demanding attention as he was practically glaring at the now named brothers. "I'm sure you've bothered these two gentlemen quite enough for one afternoon. I think it's about time that we head home."

Dean looked carefully at the man for the first real time, sizing him up and placing his obvious qualities into categories to be filed away for later. It was something he had always done and dad always encouraged this. 'Pay close attention to first impressions. They are most likely the right one.' And Dean was definitely not liking what he was seeing.

Apparently Sam didn't either. "He's not bothering us." he stated firmly to Todd. "It's been a while since I've had a decent discussion about books anyhow." he gave a pointed side glance over at Dean's direction who promptly rolled his eyes.

"Well if you're looking for a decent conversation about books, I suggest you go talk to a librarian and not my son." Todd arrogantly pushed. "Besides," he put hand on Colin's shoulder who looked painfully defeated in his attempt to be friendly. "I'm sure you wouldn't share any interest in his preferred genres anyway."

"I wouldn't know about that." Dean had to admire Sam's stubbornness in a situation like this. Most people would probably have gotten Todd's hint and kept their distance, but not his little brother. Always was one to go head first into a challenge before even knowing what it was. His thoughts were then pulled back as Sam continued with: "I read a pretty wide variety." then he looked down and stared Colin in the eye. "You don't read those sappy chick flick books, right?"

Colin couldn't help but burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of the question before straitening out and shaking his head with vigor. "No way."

"Then I think we're good." Sam declared happily. 'Almost triumphantly' Dean thought and almost swore that he saw a smirk gracing his little bro's face.

Todd stiffened before tightening his grasp on Colin's shoulder. "Come on Colin. We're going home." he turned to head off, but Colin gave a small protest.

"Wait. Can I just have a sec.?"

Todd looked down at the boy and swore that he had the most puppy dog eyes ever and groaned. That made them all the more effective when pleading. He glanced down at his watch. "You have until I get the football." And with that he turned on his heel and stomped off quickly, in an attempt to cut the conversation as short as possible.

Colin grinned and faced the two brothers. "I like you guys." he announced suddenly before clarifying the statement. "As friends. I prefer girls when it comes to relationships I swear." he cocked his head to the side with a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "They're better kissers."

Dean laughed and had to admit that he liked this kid. "Amen to that."

"Cool." Colin peeked around his shoulder to check where Todd was before continuing. "I'll be at the library tomorrow at three if you guys want to talk some more. I could show you some great books if you're interested."

A sharp whistle interrupted him as his dad headed to his car, tapping his watch impatiently.

"So, you guys don't have to come. Just if you want to." Without waiting for a reply, Colin dashed away the same direction Todd went, with Wendigo chasing close behind, barking happily as she raced her master to their destination.

Sam watched closely as Colin jumped into the passenger side of his dad's car as they drove away, leaving a small trail of burnt rubber on the innocent gravel below, before returning his attention back to Dean, who he was sure was ready to go back to the motel by now and get a shower.

"Well?"

Sam raised his eyebrows at the question, wondering if he missed something that should have been obvious. Going through the conversation with Colin and Todd, he could find nothing that seemed strange or out of place that he should have to answer for. With a loud sigh, he signified his defeat. "Well what Dean?"

In contrast to his brother's raised eyebrows, Dean lowered his till he was sure he got his point across. "When are you going to tell me what you saw? You know, before you decided to get intimate with the water."

Sam almost rolled his eyes, but thought better of it when he saw Dean's serious expression. But there was something more. 'Well, of course. You don't just tell somebody that you're seeing things that shouldn't be there, nearly drown in a lake and then expect him to act like nothing happened. . .' But what should he tell him? He wasn't even sure if he, himself knew exactly what happened a minute ago. It all happened so fast and everything seemed so jumbled in his mind.

"Sam?" Dean took his brothers silence as a way to try and avoid the subject but swore that he wouldn't just let this slide by. "Sam, did you have a vision?"

Sam tried to do that ducking thing with his head that he always did when he was kid; when he was either lying or unsure what the answer was, but Dean would have none of it and moved around so he could stare him down. "Come on man. Talk to me. The vision, was it bad?"

"I'm not sure that it was a vision." Sam answered quietly.

"Then what was it?"

"I don't know." Sam continued truthfully. "I think it was more of a. . . more of a flashback, I guess."

Dean scrunched his previously glaring eyebrows together in a tight line. "A flashback? A flashback of what?"

Sam turned his head away and began walking back down the path they had trodden earlier to get here, but again, Dean wasn't to be deterred. "Sam, don't you dare walk away from me man. We're not done talking about this."

"Uh-uh." Sam shook his head. "You might not be done talking about this, Dean. But I am."

"Sam!"

Sam spun around. "It's nothing! I wish you would just quit bugging me about this! I just. . . " his voice dropped off as he stared at something past Dean's shoulder. ". . .tripped."

Dean looked over his shoulder but saw nothing. "Sam? You with me man?"

Sam's attention snapped back to his brother. "Yes. I'm freaking alright. Now would you just hurry up so we can go. I smell like a sewer." he gave a death glare at the suddenly peaceful waters glistening to his right.

"Fine." Dean pulled his keys from his pocket and trudged over to meet the younger on the way to the car. "But you better have an explanation for me when we get there, cause you're not getting a shower till I get the full play-by-play."

Sam nodded his head as he promptly hid a hand behind his back, carefully entwining two of his fingers while answering. "Sure Dean. Whatever you say."

"Damn straight." Dean called back. "I'm the big brother, dude. What I say, goes."

Ending Author Notes: If you were confused at all with Sam's vision/ flashback, I guess I should clarify that he was seeing things from his (the baby's) point of view. Okay, I know you're all rolling your eyes and saying: An idiot could've gotten that! Well for those that did, kudos to you. And those that didn't, that's what these incredibly awesome notes are for!

I'm getting most of my info for doppelgängers off of the wikipedia, so no strangling if I get something wrong. wags finger forcefully lol I'm also reserving some creative liberties with them.

Extra note: Yes, Colin and Todd are two more characters from my imagination. They will play parts in the story but won't get overly involved with Sam or Dean, I think.

Extra, Extra note: I'm not sure what you thought, but it seemed to me that the dialogue in the beginning, between Sam and Dean was a bit off and uncharacteristic. I'll try to fix that unfortunate problem in the future and get their conversations to flow a little better. Thanks for reading.

I'm not even going to bother adding a note here, I'm just gonna say it straight. SHAMELESS ADVERTISING! Enjoying this story? If You haven't already, check out my older sis' fic: Why We Fight. Need a good laugh? 'My Ghost and I' is sure to brighten you day. SHAMELESS ADVERTISING OVER!

Also, remember that every time you review: A rabbit gets it's lucky foot back. - Kerri